


The Ending

by Blink_Blue



Series: Synchronicity [5]
Category: It's Always Sunny in Philadelphia
Genre: Angst, Break Up, Dysfunctional Relationships, M/M, Mental Health Issues
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2017-07-07
Updated: 2017-07-07
Packaged: 2018-11-28 20:20:34
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 901
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/11425449
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Blink_Blue/pseuds/Blink_Blue
Summary: It crumbles to the ground.





	The Ending

Dennis should have seen this coming. He should have known it’d all fall apart. And worst of all, he should have known it’d be his own fault. He’s an architect of his own undoing. Always has been. 

Good things never last. And people like him don’t deserve good things. It’s a lesson he should have learned a long time ago. 

Dennis stands frozen in their doorway. He watches silently, his words caught in his throat as Mac shoves various items into a bag. It all seems so fragile now, as Mac furiously packs his things, leaving behind just remnants of the life they shared together. 

Dennis loathes the sight, but not as much as he loathes himself.

His cheek still throbs from when Mac slammed his fist into his face.  He feels a bruise forming under his skin. 

They are so broken.

Anger radiates off of Mac in dangerous waves. The other man doesn’t look up. He doesn’t even acknowledge his presence. 

Dennis would do anything to go back in time, just to spare them this moment. 

“What are you doing?” Dennis whispers, his hands trembling by his sides. He already knows the answer. But he’s not ready to accept it. He takes a small step closer into the room. “Mac... what are you-”

“What does it look like?” Mac hisses without looking up. 

“Can’t we talk about this?” Dennis pleads. The desperate tone of his voice sounds strange to his ears. 

Mac finally looks up, giving him a short, sarcastic laugh that sounds just as foreign coming from him. His eyes are bright with fury as he shakes his head. “There’s nothing to talk about.”

Dennis takes a step towards him, just a small step, and Mac immediately takes one back. It hurts like a punch to the gut. 

“Please don’t go,” Dennis whispers. He’s willing to beg. He’s begged before. Of course, Dee left him anyway. Maybe if he weren’t so awful to people they wouldn’t be so eager to get away from him. Soon there will be no one left. “Mac…” Dennis reaches out a hand-

“Don’t touch me,” Mac flinches away and grits his teeth. “You _fucking_ bastard.”

“I’m sorry,” Dennis says faintly. “I’m so sorry-”

“You’re sorry?” Mac asks incredulously. He gives a short laugh that sounds borderline hysterical. “You’re sorry…” His voice trails off as he shakes his head. There’s no mirth in his eyes. “Do you know what you did to me?”

Dennis tenses. He drops his gaze to the ground and swallows the lump in his throat, hoping to dislodge something akin to words. 

“Oh, no. You will look at me,” Mac growls. “Look at me!”

Dennis complies and finds nothing but fury in the other man’s eyes. Mac glares at him with unflinching anger. This rage Dennis had never seen in him before, not in all the years that he had known him. But as he looks a little deeper, he also finds hurt and betrayal in those dark eyes.  

For someone so quick with words, Dennis finds himself at a loss for them. He’s so used to the excuses and the lies rolling off his tongue. But now, there’s nothing he could possibly say to justify his actions, or make them better. 

A heavy silence rolls between them, tainting the air, making each breath harder to draw. 

Mac’s jaw clenches painfully when Dennis finally opens his mouth. 

“You weren’t supposed to find out.”

They both let out a silent breath. 

“Wow,” Mac murmurs stoically. The cold fury in his eyes is fading, leaving behind hurt and exhaustion, and something Dennis fears may be acceptance. “You ruined my life, you son of a bitch. And that’s all you have to say?”

“What do you want me to say?” Dennis asks pathetically.

Mac stares at him helplessly. Maybe he doesn’t even know himself. “Tell me why,” he finally says hoarsely. 

“Because I love you.”

Apparently, that was the wrong thing to say. Mac shakes his head. His bag falls to the ground with a heavy thud and he curls into himself, bowing his head into his hands as his fingers curl around loose strands of hair that had fallen out of place. He lets out a feral sound that’s halfway between a groan and a scream, and all Dennis can do is stand and watch.  

His brain is whirling, torn between a desire to comfort-a habit he’d grown accustomed to over the decades, and knowing that this time, he has to keep his distance. 

“You fucker,” Mac growls. “You _fucker!”_

Dennis flinches but stands his ground. 

_“You don’t do this to someone you love!”_

Maybe that’s the root of his problems. Maybe he doesn’t know how to love. It’s easier to be selfish. It’s easier to take than to ask. And when his entire world feels so painfully out of his control that he’d do anything to make it all stop… No matter the cost. No matter who he hurts in the process. It's too easy not to deny himself what he wants. 

Maybe that’s it. He doesn’t know how to love. 

“You don’t do this to someone you love,” Mac repeats, his tone softer now. But Dennis barely hears him. 

He can’t fix it. He can’t fix _them._ Not when he’s the one that’s broken. Like a hairline crack that spreads and taints and ruins, until finally… he’s shattered them into pieces. 

**Author's Note:**

> Come say hi! ([x](http://winters-blue-children.tumblr.com))


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